ST. PAULS – West Bladen erupted for six runs in the sixth inning in coming from behind to beat Red Springs 10-6 Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the Robeson County Baseball Slugfest.
The Knights, 6-1, are scheduled to play the winner of the Purnell Swett-St. Pauls game Monday at 7 p.m. in the tournament semifinals. The final round of the tournament is scheduled Tuesday at St. Pauls High School. Red Springs is 7-4 and will play the loser of the Swett-St. Pauls game Monday in the consolation bracket.
Trent West was the winning pitcher for West Bladen, giving up four hits and three walks while striking out six in six innings. None of the five runs he allowed were earned. The Knights committed three errors in the second inning when Red Springs scored three times, an error led to a Red Springs run in the fourth, and a pair of errors in the sixth helped the Red Devils score twice. Mason Hester and Chandler Lennon pitched the seventh inning.
West also led West Bladen at the plate, going 3-for-3 with three runs batted in. He also was hit by a pitch twice. Jeremy Hunt, Weston Pidgeon and Lennon each had two hits. Seth Britt and Trevor Lesane had a hit apiece.
Trailing 4-2 after five innings, West Bladen sent 12 batters to the plate in the sixth to take an 8-4 lead. A walk to Troy Edge, a single by Lennon and a throwing error put runners on second and third to start the frame. Pidgeon then lofted a single near the left field line that drove home Edge. Britt reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Lennon that tied the game at 4-4, and Britt later scored on a wild pitch. Hunt, West and Lennon also had RBI singles in the inning.
The Knights tacked on a pair of runs in the seventh. Britt was hit by a pitch and scored on Lesane’s triple. West followed with a single that scored Lesane that made it 10-5.
Red Springs scored a run in the seventh and had the bases loaded when the game ended.
Brad Hardin was 3-for-4 to lead Red Springs at the plate.
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